Dear Parishioners:
The Mass of Thanksgiving for 25th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination of Fr. Healey, June 21, 2020.
I wish to thank those who made the celebration of my 25th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination such a joyful and faith-filled occasion. I thank Bishop Evans, Bishop McManus of Worcester and Bishop Spalding of Nashville for attending the Mass of Thanksgiving last Sunday. I was honored by their presence at the Mass and grateful for their ministry, support, fraternity, and friendship. I am also so very thankful to my brother priests who concelebrated the Mass, Fr. Joseph Henry, Msgr. Albert Kenney, Fr. Angelo Carusi, Fr. Joseph Upton and Fr. Hiep Van Nguyen. Fr. Barrow served as the Master of Ceremonies of the Mass, and I thank him for a job, as always, well done! Fr. Connors offered an outstanding sermon, and I am so very thankful for his powerful, humbling words. I thank all my brother priests, especially Fr. Barrow and Fr. Connors for their continued friendship and priestly fraternity. They are a great gift in my life, and I am deeply thankful for them.
I offer a particular word of thanks for Henri St. Louis, our talented OLM organist, and to Deirdre Donovan, our former OLM soloist, for the gift of their music and talent. They provided such beauty and majestically lifted our worship and praise toward God, where it rightly belongs. I'm grateful to the Lectors, who did an outstanding job proclaiming God's Word. And I must thank our dedicated band of Altar Servers who do such a great job and serve so reverently. Fr. Joe Upton, who concelebrated the Mass on Sunday, was an eleven-year-old Altar Server at St. Paul Church at my First Mass of Thanksgiving in June 1995. Let's hope that one of the young men who serve at OLM answers the call to the priesthood and might preach at my fiftieth anniversary Mass in 2045 (if I'm still around)!! Pray for more vocations to the priesthood in the Diocese of Providence.
Ordination Day, June 24, 1995. Then Fr. Mark Spalding, now Bishop of Nashville, lays hands upon newly ordained Fr. Healey
So many parishioners are so generous and kind in remembering my Silver Jubilee of Priesthood. I am grateful for their support, the generous gifts, and the promise of prayers of so many people. Your kindness and generosity are deeply appreciated, and I am sincerely thankful. God has given me a great gift in his priesthood. It is a unique and profound grace that allows me to know, love, and serve Him and His people in the sacred ministry of Jesus Christ, the High Priest. For this extraordinary gift of twenty-five years of priestly ministry, I am grateful to God.
St. John Paul the Great once said: "Remember the past with gratitude. Live the present with enthusiasm. Look forward to the future with confidence." As I look back on twenty-five years of priestly ministry, I am full of gratitude for all the gifts God has bestowed upon me. As I continue to live my priestly vocation, even after twenty-five years, I am still full of enthusiasm to serve God and His people in the Church. And as I look forward to the years ahead, I am indeed full of confidence for the future. God is so very good. How could we not help but be full of gratitude, enthusiasm, and confidence!?
Clean up at PC Cemetery after vandal commits hate crime.
The installation of the new security system for the Church and Rectory is nearing completion. It will help us monitor the Church and Rectory and keep our physical plant secure. Sadly Churches and Catholic institutions are targets these days. Just last week, the Friar's Cemetery at Providence College fell victim to vandalism. Headstones and crosses desecrated with painted swastikas and anti-Catholic epithets appeared all over this sacred place. Flags honoring veterans burned. Thankfully the Providence Police apprehended the sick individual responsible for this hate crime. While I hope nothing similar happens again, especially here at OLM, we must continue to be cautious. Given the social unrest and the destructive behavior of many activists across the country, we must be vigilant. This system costs about $10.000. The Our Faith, Our Future Capital Campaign finances this work. Thank you again for your donations and for continuing to make your pledges to the campaign.
Also, as a result of the campaign, we installed three much needed new roofs at our two convents and school. We also needed to replace all the gutters on OLM School as they are damaged and old. This work should be completed soon at the cost of $10,000, and it, too, is funded by the capital campaign. We are reviewing the plans for the installation of new Church doors and hope to begin that project later in the summer. Again I thank you for your generous support of OLM and our capital campaign. It is an excellent sign of the life and vitality of this beautiful parish that so many understood the need and responded with generosity.
As summer begins, it's not typical, but I hope to see even more folks coming back to Mass. Usually, summer sees a decrease in Mass attendance as parishioners travel and take vacations. I don't think many families are going too far this summer, and many seem to be taking "staycations" at home. As Phase III of the pandemic crisis response begins, restrictions are gradually lifting. We hope to see some normality returns to life, let's hope Mass is part of the routine and pews start to fill up again. We continue to offer Mass daily at 7:30 am, Monday through Friday, 8:30 am on Saturday and 5 pm Saturday, and 7:30 am, and 10:30 am on Sundays. Church doors open fifteen minutes before the start of Mass time, and seating is first to arrive, first seated.
We're coming to the end of June, on Monday, June 29th we celebrate the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the patrons of our diocese. Please pray for our diocese that our local Church might thrive with holiness and zeal for the Gospel. Also next weekend we celebrate the Fourth of July. We still live in a continued crisis of pandemic with its many health precautions and continue to witness growing social unrest. I hope you might stop into Church on Independence Day to give thanks to God for the many blessings of our nation, especially the blessings of freedom and liberty. Happy Independence Day!
Stay safe. Be Well. Do Good! God Bless! Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us!
Father Healey